Words
by Pessimist
Summary: Ranma finally finds the right words. RA, short and sweet.


**Author's Note: **A strange, short snippet.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Ranma ½.

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**Words**

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Ranma found himself near complete mental distress.

Everyone in the Tendo household wanted to slaughter him and mount his head on the wall, and for what? Despite explaining insistently that he'd only been rifling through his fiancée's underwear drawer the previous night to protect her from Happosai's twisted advances, no one seemed to care.

Of course the intrusion made Akane livid. Upon hearing P-Chan's angry squeals, she sent the pigtailed boy through the roof. So, sporting several bumps and bruises, Ranma had taken his seat at the table on Monday morning without sleeping a wink all night.

Kasumi greeted him civilly enough when he entered the kitchen, offering him a cup of tea while she finished cooking breakfast. The remaining residents, save for the Tomboy, had filed in afterwards, groggy and not acknowledging Ranma any further than saying, "'morning."

Just as Kasumi entered the dining room carrying several plates loaded with breakfast stuffs, and just as Ranma had an entire egg halfway to his mouth, Akane pounded down the stairs, inserted herself and P-Chan next to her fiancé, and piled her plate with more food than any living person could eat. In response to her father's growing concern, she angrily explained the events of the previous night as she missed her glass with the jug and spilled orange juice on everyone in the vicinity instead.

As the tense atmosphere reached its breaking point, Akane remarked rudely to Ranma that he should just _eat_ her underwear if he was so hungry. This sent everyone over the edge. Soun and Genma broke into tumultuous tears, and Kasumi merely berated the two teenagers, saying that physical involvement should wait until marriage. Nabiki, knowing the repair bill for the roof would find its way into her hands, rounded on the pigtailed boy for being stupid enough to break into her sister's room.

As if poor Ranma didn't have enough problems, P-Chan had run into the bathroom briefly and emerged as a fully irate Ryoga Hibiki. Ten seconds later, Ranma found himself being strangled by the lost boy's bandana whilst struggling desperately to inhale.

This continued until Nabiki noticed the clock and dragged her bickering sister out of the fray and off to school. Ranma hightailed it out of the slaughterhouse on their heels, barely managing to escape from being skinned.

As Nabiki sped ahead, Ranma had the unpleasant notion that she had intended to get him alone with Akane. What she failed to realize was that Akane had no intention of speaking to her betrothed at all, and this cruel punishment continued throughout the day despite Ranma's desperate and futile attempts to get her to talk to him again.

After an uncharacteristically lonely lunch period, Ranma sat in a biology-stupor, stealing the occasional glance a seat away at his fiancée, who refused to look at him. Boredom found him eventually, and instead he rested his chin on his palm and trained unfocused eyes on the blackboard.

He suddenly noticed a folded paper on the corner of his desk. Opening it, he read in tidy print:

_Why do you keep staring at me?_

He looked questioningly at Akane, expecting her to finally reciprocate his gaze. To his dismay, she kept her eyes trained on her notes. Fighting the urge to yell out in frustration, Ranma answered in a messy scrawl:

_I thought you weren't speaking to me. _

He crumpled the paper into a little ball and chucked it back. It hit Akane on the ear, but she didn't retaliate beyond sending over another reply.

_Technically, I'm not._

After reading, Ranma wrote back fervently:

_What's your problem? I didn't do anything to you! Dummy!_

He didn't wait long for his response.

_Just admit that you miss me. _

_Love, Akane_

Ranma had to re-read the message three times before comprehending the words. He had expected her to draw an angry face or to call him a pervert. He had not expected something so… flirtatious. And what was this "Love, Akane" business? She didn't _love_ him. As far as he knew, she didn't even _like_ him at the moment.

He all but flung his angry retort back at her:

_What are you trying to pull, tomboy?_

Her next reply floored him:

_All it takes is three little words._

"_Three little words?"_ He repeated to himself. _Akane, you're dumb. _The pigtailed boy erased the thought. _You're so uncute._ No. _Get over it._ Nah. _I miss you._ Lame.

_I… love you?_

Ranma blushed, but he realized he'd unearthed his next response, and he suddenly wanted nothing more than for her to know it. With a shaking hand, he scribbled three words and offered the paper to her already outstretched hand.

He caught a grin threatening at the corners of her mouth as she read it. She jotted down a simple pair of words and passed the paper back. Two words. He really had no reason to feel so anxious, but that didn't stop his palms from sweating as he unfolded the little note.

What Ranma saw made him release a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He smiled widely and looked at Akane, unable to believe his luck. She beamed back. The effect of words was incredible, and it only took two of them to make Ranma's heart soar.

_Akane, I'm sorry,_ he'd written, and below she had replied with the following:

_You're forgiven._

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**Author's Note: **Writing and publishing in the middle of finals week? Oh no... :/

I hope you at least found this enjoyable. Please review!


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